Dental cabinetry

ABSTRACT

Dental cabinetry for use by a dentist and assistant during patient treatment. A stationary cabinet portion includes a work surface and drawers fully accessible to the seated dentist. A positionable assistant&#39;&#39;s cabinet provides like features for the assistant. Roller support means carried by the stationary cabinet supports a projecting work surface of the assistant&#39;&#39;s cabinet in all adjusted positions. The assistant&#39;&#39;s cabinet is caster supported for arcuate travel about a floor attached pivot. The pivot is adjustable to provide the desired positioning of the assistant&#39;&#39;s cabinet adjacent the patient.

United States Patent Frederick Oct. 29, 1974 DENTAL CABINETRY Harold L. Frederick, 3234 NE. Maryland Dr., Lincoln City, Oreg. 97367 Filed: Feb. 16, 1973 Appl. No.: 332,930

Inventor:

US. Cl. 312/209, 312/250 Int. Cl. A47b 95/18, A47f 5/08 Field of Search 32/22; 248/188; 312/195,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1964 McMaster..... 12/1967 Theodores 7/1969 Coburn 312/209 Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James D. Givnan, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT Dental cabinetry for use by a dentist and assistant during patient treatment. A stationary cabinet portion includes a work surface and drawers fully accessible to the seated dentist. A positionable assistants cabinet provides like features for the assistant. Roller support means carried by the stationary cabinet supports a projecting work surface of the assistants cabinet in all adjusted positions. The assistants cabinet is caster supported for arcuate travel about a floor attached pivot. The pivot is adjustable to provide the desired positioning of the assistants cabinet adjacent the patient.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEUUU 29 I974 SIEHIBFZ PMENTEMBIZB um I sum M 2 3.844.833

DENTAL CABINETRY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to dental equipment and particularly to cabinetry structure providing an operatory for a dentist and assistant or assistants.

With the wide acceptance of sit down or four handed" dentistry by a large percentage of dentists has come a requirement for cabinetry conveniently positioning dental tools for the seated dentist and assistant(s). Toward this end elaborate and costly arrays of cabinets and associated equipment have been made available to the profession. While providing the essentials of a complete operatory they are very costly and of considerable size and hence only practical for a restricted number of practitioners. A need exists for operatory cabinetry providing both adequate storage for dental instruments and paraphernalia in a readily accessible manner and for large work surfaces for both dentist and assistant. Carts have been used in some dental offices to provide supplementary storage areas and work surfaces but are objectionable for the reason that they obstruct ingress and egress from the seated positions.

As a considerable capital investment in the aforementioned cabinetry is required to convert an operatory from stand-up to sit-down dentistry, the

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for practical reasons, to all practitioners.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION sistants instruments, such as syringes and evacuating devices, are carried by the movable cabinetfor positioning near the patients head for easy grasping by the assistant with only minimum runs of tubingbeing necessary to avoid the risk of tangling.

A floor mounted pivot for the movable cabinet is adjustable to provide a desired arc of travel to suit the specific office arrangement. Said movable cabinet includes an assistants work surface and an array of storage drawers all of which are conveniently adjacent the assistant. Further, the assistants work surface is accessible, if need be, to the dentist. A stationary cabinet component, in a like manner, provides a series of drawers readily accessible to the dentist as is a large work surface for support by the dentist.

Roller means on the stationary dentists cabinet serves to support a raised, desk-like work surface of the assistants movable cabinet. Said work surface is elevated above the corresponding work surface of the dentists cabinet to best suit the assistant who works from a sitting position somewhat higher than the sitting height of the dentist. Additionally, the work surface of the assistants cabinet is swingable over the assistants lap to best locate her instruments and set-up trays.

of the various dental articles used Accordingly, important objects of the present invention include the provision of dental cabinetry providing an operatory with the dentist and his assistant each having a cabinet with adequate storage and work surface area; the provision of a movable cabinet easily swung into position away from a room wall whereat the cabinets work surface is located over the assistants lap with one edge of said work surface supporting an array of assistant used instruments; the provision of plural cabinets with work surfaces thereon at different levels to best suit the dentist and assistant seated at two different levels; the provision of an assistants elevated work surface on which a set-up tray is supported along with the assistants handpieces which permits access by the dentist in the event the assistant is temporarily absent; the provision of a positionable dental cabinet adapted for operational positioning about an adjustable vertical axis permitting the movable cabinet to be optimumly positioned for the job at hand; the provision of a stationary dentists cabinet having drawers opening into a highly accessible position alongside the seated dentist; the provision of an assistants cabinet embodying a series of drawers positionable closely adjacent and alongside the seated assistant. The foregoing objects and others later elaborated upon are set forthin the following specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a frontal upper perspective of the cabinetry,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a front elevational thereof,

FIG. 4 is an elevational view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 showing details of a cabinet pivot assembly, and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of adjustable pivot assembly components separated from the cabinet.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings on which applied reference numerals indicate parts similarly identified in the following specification, the reference numeral 10 indicates generally the stationary cabinet hereinafter referred to as the dentists cabinet. A positionable cabinet is indicated generally at 11 and is for a dental assistant, the cabinet hereinafter ten'ned an assistants cabinet. For purposes of explanation, the dentists working position is symbolically indicated at D in FIG. 2 while the patient and assistant positions are indicated by the letters P and A.

The stationary or dentists cabinet 10 is of irregular configuration in plan view with a work surface 12 at a convenient height to support an array of dental hand instruments used by the dentist in the treating of a patient. Additionally the work surface is of a size to receive an x-ray viewer for the denstists convenient reference. A series of drawers 13 face outwardly in angular relationships to an adjacent room wall for convenient access by the dentist D seated to the left hand side of the patient figure P.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 a roller support 14 in the nature of an inverted caster, projects upwardly from a work surface barrier 12A partially defining work surface 12. The function of roller support 14 is later elaborated upon.

The assistants cabinet 11 is substantially larger than the first described cabinet and has an elevated desklike work surface upwardly spaced from work surface 12 of cabinet 10. Work surface 15 is of adequate size to support one or more dental set-up trays and other paraphernalia commonly used by an assistant or assistants during dental work. Dental assistant handpieces at H such as syringes and evacuating devices are conveniently retained within holders 16 supported by a truncated or angularly disposed edge 17 of the'cabinet. Conduits C connect each of said handpieces with sources of water, air and vacuum connections within a junction enclosure 19 shown affixed to the stationary dentists cabinet 10. Not shown, nor part of the invention, are the support means for the dentists handpieces which may be of the type remotely supported upon a telescopic or scissor arm and which normally include air driven burrs and water-air syringes.

With continuing attention to the assistants cabinet 11, the same includes drawers 18 in which are conveniently stored the assistants instruments and supplies important to a dental operatory. A pedestal 20 of the cabinet houses the drawers and is supported by casters 21 mounted in a recessed manner (FIG. 4) to the underside 20A of the pedestal. Accordingly the assistants cabinet 11 is supported for rolling movement over the floor surface into position outwardly from a room wall surface preparatory to patient treatment.

The underside of the work surface 15 is supported directly by the roller support 14 to insure cabinet stability and ease of cabinet travel. When operationally disposed, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the work surface 15 is conveniently located over the lap of the assistant allowing her ready access to a set-up tray T thereon and the handpieces H in holders 16. Similarly, with cabinet 11 being swung outwardly theset of drawers 18 are moved to a position conveniently accessible to the seated assistant. The pivot mechanism for such cabinet movement is hereinafter described.

A pair of oppositely disposed channels 22 are affixed respectively to a floor surface and to an underside edge 23 of pedestal 20. Each channel is C-shaped in section with a longitudinally extending opening 22A. Each channel 22 receives a slide member at 24. Said slide members are adapted for joint sliding movement along their respective channels with locking means therefor in the form of pins 26 insertable within transverse apertures 24A in each of the slide members and aligned channel openings 28. Pivotally interconnecting each of said members is an externally threaded stud 27 extending through the lengthwise openings 22A in the channels and having both right and left hand threads with each in threaded engagement with a slide member 24. Said slide members are internally threaded at their centers for reception of the oppositely directed threads of stud 27 to complete the pivot means.

As viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4 different centers of rotation are provided for the assistants cabinet for repositioning of said pivot means along the channels 22. Position A indicated in full lines in FIG. 4 results in the position indicated at A in FIG. 2, while the broken line pivot means position B in FIG. 4 results in the broken line position B of FIG. 2. Such positioning of cabinet 11 as well as its distance from the room wall will be action. Where operatively disposed it provides the assistant with a sizable work surface on which a set-up tray or trays are located. Further, the assistants handpieces are also located in close proximity to the patients head and, if need be, may be used by the dentist in the temporary absence of the assistant. Where the patient must be in a sitting position the movable cabinet 11 is swung to its maximum outward position. Conduits C serving the assistants handpieces H are of adequate length to permit such movement.

The threaded stud 27 may be adjusted by means of tool receiving flats 30 thereon to compensate for various thicknesses of carpeting which results in the caster wheels rolling on a surface somewhat higher than the lower channel.

While I have shown but a few embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied still otherwise without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what I desire to secure under a Letters Patent is:

1. Dental cabinetry for use by a dentist and at least one assistant during the treating of a patient, said cabinetry positionable outwardly from a position against a room wall into an operative position, said cabinetry comprising,

a dentists cabinet including a work surface and a series of drawers therebelow, said drawers disposed for opening and closing movement along vectors in angular relationship to an adjacent room wall, roller support means projecting upwardly from said work surface,

an assistants cabinet including a pedestal housing a series of drawers, a work surface projecting outwardly from said pedestal in a horizontal plane spaced above the work surface of the dentists cabinet and partially overlying the last mentioned work surface for support by said roller support means thereon, and

pivot means coupling the pedestal of the assistants cabinet to a floor surface to permit outward swinging movement of the last mentioned cabinet through at least two different arcs to enable positioning of said last mentioned cabinet outwardly from a stored position against the room wall into the desired operative position adjacent a patient, said pivot means comprising channel members respectively affixed to the floor surface and to the underside of the cabinet, slide members carried within said channel members, means for locking said slide members to their respective channels, a threaded stud adjustably coupling said slide members and permitting rotational movement therebetween, said stud adjustable vertically to permit adjustment of the vertical spacing between said channel members to compensate for varying thicknesses of floor covering material. 

1. Dental cabinetry for use by a dentist and at least one assistant during the treating of a patient, said cabinetry positionable outwardly from a position against a room wall into an operative position, said cabinetry comprising, a dentist''s cabinet including a work surface and a series of drawers therebelow, said drawers disposed for opening and closing movement along vectors in angular relationship to an adjacent room wall, roller support means projecting upwardly from said work surface, an assistant''s cabinet including a pedestal housing a series of drawers, a work surface projecting outwardly from said pedestal in a horizontal plane spaced above the work surface of the dentist''s cabinet and partially overlying the last mentioned work surface for support by said roller support means thereon, and pivot means coupling the pedestal of the assistant''s cabinet to a floor surface to permit outward swinging movement of the last mentioned cabinet through at least two different arcs to enable positioning of said last mentioned cabinet outwardly from a stored position against the room wall into the desired operative position adjacent a patient, said pivot means comprising channel members respectively affixed to the floor surface and to the underside of the cabinet, slide members carried within said channel members, means for locking said slide members to their respective channels, a threaded stud adjustably coupling said slide members and permitting rotational movement therebetween, said stud adjustable vertically to permit adjustment of the vertical spacing between said channel members to compensate for varying thicknesses of floor covering material. 